How challenging this verse is right now. Daily we hear reports of the death toll in different countries around the world, and they now measure in the thousands. Grim stories of overwhelmed hospitals and morgues, even cemeteries, are now all part of our new norm. So, how long will we escape the odds against us? How many thousands will “die at our right hand” while we are spared?
Why should the believer hold out for this promise of protection in Psalm 91? Why should we expect safe passage on this journey of evasion form a microscopic menace that we cannot see coming our way? Don’t the laws of random distribution apply to us too? How long can we expect go dodging the bullets?
These are the questions that test our faith. What is stated is clear enough, and we also have the testimonials of soldiers that have indeed seen miraculous protection in battlefields of the past to back us up. We now have to take our place in the front-line whether we feel ready or not. So what do we have to lose by standing on God’s promise? More importantly, what else may we hope to gain?
The privilege of having God’s ear goes beyond our safe passage in times of trial. At the head of every promise is the Lord himself, three in one, all on our side. This is the real destination of faith: to know God more. Every day we are given opportunity to inject faith into our every need and concern. But if our gaze does not reach beyond what we want, to the one who will provide, then we leave ourselves short-changed.
For most people of this generation, there have been few trials on the scale of the current pandemic to live through. We are largely untested, and this lock-down will no doubt shake us out. Will we cower in our hiding places until it’s over or will we go for the whole nine yards by using our abundance of free time to get to know God better?
Barry Struthers
Why should the believer hold out for this promise of protection in Psalm 91? Why should we expect safe passage on this journey of evasion form a microscopic menace that we cannot see coming our way? Don’t the laws of random distribution apply to us too? How long can we expect go dodging the bullets?
These are the questions that test our faith. What is stated is clear enough, and we also have the testimonials of soldiers that have indeed seen miraculous protection in battlefields of the past to back us up. We now have to take our place in the front-line whether we feel ready or not. So what do we have to lose by standing on God’s promise? More importantly, what else may we hope to gain?
The privilege of having God’s ear goes beyond our safe passage in times of trial. At the head of every promise is the Lord himself, three in one, all on our side. This is the real destination of faith: to know God more. Every day we are given opportunity to inject faith into our every need and concern. But if our gaze does not reach beyond what we want, to the one who will provide, then we leave ourselves short-changed.
For most people of this generation, there have been few trials on the scale of the current pandemic to live through. We are largely untested, and this lock-down will no doubt shake us out. Will we cower in our hiding places until it’s over or will we go for the whole nine yards by using our abundance of free time to get to know God better?
Barry Struthers
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